1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data converting apparatus which converts input image data into printing image data, and then, outputs it, and a data converting program which causes an information processing apparatus to operate as the data converting apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, electronization has advanced also in the field of printing to achieve greater proliferation of DTP (Desktop Publishing) in which pages of a printed matter are edited on an editing computer. In general, pages are described in a page description language such as PS (PostScript: registered trademark) or a PDF (Portable Document Format) as DTP software for use in editing the pages by an operator. Image data expressing an image of a page in which elements such as characters or photographs are definitely arranged is produced with the DTP software. The image data produced with the DTP software include element data portions expressing the elements arranged on the page, respectively, and further, descriptions of the arrangement positions of the elements on the page.
For example, in making postcards for plural destinations, there has been frequently performed variable printing for editing image data including element data which have a master element such as a stamp mark common to plural pages described therein and are used commonly, and other element data which have variable elements such as destinations different in each of the pages from each other described therein and are interchanged, and for outputting the image data. In recent years, there has been widely known a data description language of PPML (Personalized Print Markup Language) which can efficiently edit a page for such variable printing (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-316549). PPML can in advance declare the common use of a master element among plural pages. In a case where a page for the variable printing is described by the use of PS or PDF, a master element commonly appearing on the plural pages needs to be described every time. In contrast, in the case of the use of the PPML, the master element first is described only once, and thus, the re-use of the master element described already can be instructed when the master element appears on the page. Therefore, the use of the PPML can reduce the total amount of image data in addition to that a page can be legibly and simply described.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-208925 discloses a process for converting image data described in the PPML into printing image data.
Normally, image elements are not described not all directly in a PPML file described in PPML, and a file name in which image elements such as documents or photographs to be arranged on an image are described and the like are described in the PPML file, and further, arrangement positions of the elements on the image and the like are described in the PPML file. As a consequence, the image data is constructed by collecting all of the files of the elements based on information described in the PPML file.
More particularly, a file of each of the elements is specified by interpreting the PPML file; the specified file is converted into each of PS element data described in PS; and further, inside information expressing the arrangement position of each of the elements on the image is produced. Subsequently, the PS element data obtained in the above-described manner is converted into raster element data by rasterization. Moreover, editing is performed based on the inside information so as to arrange an image element expressed by the raster element data at a determined position on the image, thereby producing raster page data expressing an image per page.
The raster page data such produced as explained above is transmitted to a printer, which then prints an image based on the raster page data.
The PPML file has the file name and the like of the image element described directly therein, as explained above, thereby making it difficult to know the entire image per page from the PPML file. As processed in accordance with the disclosure of Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-208925 upon receipt of the PPML file, the data is merely mechanically converted into the raster page data, and therefore, the image per page cannot be seen until the image is printed by the printer. As a consequence, in a case where there is a page which need not be printed, even such an unnecessary page is printed, thereby possibly causing wastes.